June 12, 2017

2017 MLB Draft: What you need to know

By Adam Morissette

Baseball Canada

WHAT: The annual Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft (or Rule 4 Draft) gets underway tonight (7 p.m. E.T. MLB Network/MLB.com) with the first 75 selections (Round 1, Competitive Balance Lottery Round A, Round 2, Competitive Balance Lottery Round B), continues Tuesday with rounds three through ten and concludes on Wednesday with rounds 11-40.

WHO: There are generally three groups of players that are eligible for the MLB First-Year Player Draft:

- High school players, if they have graduated from high school and have not yet attended college or junior college;

- College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old; and

- Junior college players, regardless of how many years of school they have completed

- Countries eligible for the draft include Canada, Puerto Rico, the United States and US territories. Players from other countries are considered international free agents and must adhere to MLB’s international signing rules.

WHEN: June 12 – Round 1 gets underway tonight at 7 p.m. E.T. with the first 75 selections; June 13 - Rounds 3-10 beginning at 1 p.m. E.T.; June 11 - Rounds 11-40 begins at Noon E.T.

HOW TO FOLLOW: MLB Network will carry the first 75 selections live tonight from their studio in Secaucus, New Jersey beginning at 7 p.m. E.T. with a preview show beginning at 6 p.m. E.T....Live coverage of all 40 rounds along with a Draft Tracker will be available at MLB.com...Baseball Canada will be providing live updates for drafted Canadians on Twitter (@baseballcanada) as they happen, along with a daily recap on baseball.ca.

USEFUL LINKS:

MLB.com Draft Tracker
Canadian Baseball Network
Baseball America Draft Map

Twitter:        

@BaseballCanada
@CDNBaseball
@MLBDraft
@MLBDraftTracker

CANADIAN MLB DRAFT FACTS:

- Canada has been a “draft region” since 1991. Prior to that, Canadians playing in Canada were free agents, while Canadians playing at US colleges or universities were eligible for the draft.

- The first player drafted out of Canada was Jason Wuersch from Leamington, Ontario as the New York Yankees used their 11th round selection (282nd overall) to take the outfielder in 1991.

- A record 48 Canadians were selected in the 2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft, marking the highest total since Canadians became eligible for the draft in 1991.

- The 2002 draft produced the highest ever selection for a Canadian born player as the Baltimore Orioles selected Surrey, B.C., native Adam Loewen with the fourth-overall selection. The 2002 draft also produced the highest number of Canadians who went on to play in the big leagues including Jeff Francis (Rockies), Joey Votto (Reds), Jesse Crain (Twins), Chris Leroux (Devil Rays), David Davidson (Pirates), Luke Carlin (Tigers), Scott Mathieson (Phillies), Russell Martin (Dodgers), George Kottaras (Padres) and Chris Robinson (Mets).

- Ten years ago, in 2007, there were 33 Canadians selected including Gatineau, Qué., native Phillippe Aumont who went 11th overall to the Seattle Mariners, which stands as the fourth highest for a Canadian-born player. RHPs Kyle Lotzkar (Delta, B.C.) and Trystan Magnuson (Vancouver, B.C.) were both supplemental first-round selections at 53rd (Reds) and 56th (Blue Jays) overall, respectively. Aumont and Magnuson are the only two Canadians from the 2007 draft to have appeared in the big leagues.

- In 2016, 25 Canadians were selected in the MLB draft including RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) who went eighth overall to the San Diego Padres and catcher Andrew Yerzy (Toronto, Ont.) who went 52nd overall to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both Quantrill and Yerzy are graduates of the Junior National Team program.

- Since 1999, players that have played with the Junior National Team program have accounted for 327 draft selections.

NAMES TO WATCH

Canadians on Baseball America’s Top 500 draft prospects list:

#85 RHP Landon Leach (Pickering, ON) Jr. National Team    
#99 SS Adam Hall (London, ON) Jr. National Team
#178 RHP Zach Pop (Brampton, ON) University of Kentucky
#271 SS/3B Jason Willow (Victoria, BC) Jr. National Team
#311 OF Clayton Keyes (Calgary, AB) Jr. National Team
#368 OF Cooper Davis (Mississauga, ON) Jr. National Team
#451 2B Edouard Julien (Québec, QC) Jr. National Team

Canadians on MLBPipeline.com Top 200 draft prospects list:

#95 Zach Pop
#101 Landon leach
#115 Adam Hall

Canadian Baseball Network Top 5 Canadians:

#1 Landon Leach
#2 Adam Hall
#3 Zach Pop
#4 Clayton Keyes
#5 Jason Willow